The volleyball players of Nova Tech Lycurgus have reached the semi-finals of the national cup tournament. The Groningen team did this by beating VoCASA 3-1 away in Nijmegen.
The men of coach Arjan Taaij did this with the set scores 25-19, 19-25, 20-25 and 20-25. Lycurgus thus took revenge for the painful defeat the team suffered against VoCASA earlier in the premier league. The Groningers lost no less than a 0-2 lead in Nijmegen a few weeks ago by eventually going down 3-2. They had been warned.
Although it took a while before Lycurgus was sufficiently alert. That was certainly not the case in the first set. The visitors only managed to mount a good attack, with hard smashes being a rarity. Reason for Taaij to give his American playmaker Cole Bogner some rest and temporarily replace him with his colleague Sam Gortzak. VoCASA, which provided more service pressure at that time, took advantage of the opponent’s poor play and won the first set.
Lycurgus is becoming increasingly alert
But in the second set Lycurgus became better and better and started to find his rhythm. This was especially true for center forward Robin Boekhoudt, diagonal Thomas Sleurink and passer-runner Cole Gilles. And as the match lasted longer, veteran Ramon Martinez Gion also made a nice contribution by serving and smashing. It all led to a 19-25 win in the second set and a 1-1 draw.
However, VoCASA continued to offer good resistance for a long time, but increasingly encountered the deadly blockade of the Groningen team. This happened no fewer than five times in the third set, including three times in a row. Lycurgus won 20-25 and took a 1-2 lead. Stijn de Ruijter, from Zuidwolde in Drenthe, who had been struggling with an injury for a long time, came on for the home team. He could no longer prevent VoCASA’s impending defeat.
Lycurgus no longer gives up the lead
Lycurgus smelled blood and could almost smell the semi-final. The fourth set was the easiest prey for the Groningers. They quickly gained two and three points and never relinquished that lead. That was even increased to 16-23. The people of Nijmegen then launched a small offensive, but that came too late. With 20-25, the fourth set also went to Lycurgus, which won 1-3.
The Groningen team owed that to its position and status, despite its mediocre performances in recent weeks. After all, Lycurgus is the reigning cup holder and has usually performed well in the tournament in recent years. Often resulting in cup wins.
Taaij’s team could not compete in Nijmegen with its strongest line-up. Lycurgus once again had to make do without the tall center forward Niels de Vries due to a serious ankle injury and the American Cal Fisher. The latter is still struggling with the after-effects of a knee operation and is absent for a long time. The club is even already looking for a replacement for the rest of the competition.